“Gays are fleeing Florida!” Wait . . .this kinda sounds like BS, doesn't it?
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[i][b]Photo Above[/b] - AI computer art concept of "gays leaving Florida" [b]Not shown[/b] - I was unable to make it draw a U-Haul truck with a flamingo on the side.[/i]
[b][u]Gay Floridians Are Leaving in Droves, Says Pride Organizer – DNyuz[/u][/b]
[b]OK . . . first things first. I'm not a fan of Ron DeSantis, [/b]as my previous columns attest. I don't believe he will be elected, even if he DOES win the GOP nomination. But if DeSantis reaches the White House, I don't expect a gay-pocalypse. However “The New Abnormal” (see link above) is claims this has already begun. A biblical sized exodus from Florida. Because of DeSantis.
Well . . . this COULD be happening. But I'd be more inclined to believe it if statistics had been provided. Or interviews with people packing their bags. How about a picture of at least one U-Haul? I read the article twice. Nope . . . none of these.
[b]If there WAS a mass gay exodus, I would have instead expected it to be triggered by the 2016 massacre at Pulse[/b], the Orlando nightclub. 100+ gay patrons shot – half of them died. The perpetrator was an Islamic extremist named Omir Mir Seddique Mateen. He reportedly shouted “glory to the Islamic State of Iraq” as opened fire. Mateen got off at least 200 rounds during his initial attack, then barricaded himself in a restroom with hostages. A SWAT team used their armored vehicle to breach the walls after a tactical bomb failed to do the trick. Mateen was shot 8 times moments later. Congrats to fully funded police!
THAT would be my idea of an unfriendly atmosphere. But in 2016 there weren't any faux claims that people were fleeing the state. But then again, Mateen wasn't a political candidate. And the republican governor of Florida in 2016 wasn't a presidential candidate. Trump already had the GOP nomination locked up.
I apologize if my take seems harsh, but here goes: The talking heads at “The New Abnormal” and other gay media who are claiming an exodus is underway – they're talking out of their asses. And I would ask to see their press releases following the June 2016 nightclub massacre. Who did they blame THEN?
As I noted at the top, I'm not a DeSantis fan. Anyway, Disney is already in a tussle with Ron. And the House of Mouse possibly MIGHT be fleeing Florida. 2,000 Disney office drones have already been served up by Disney as bargaining chips. Hey – whatcha gonna do? It's an election year, after all . . .
DeSantis – say something gay friendly please. You probably eat in restaurants all the time with LBGT culinary professionals, love it, and just don't know it. Gays operate a bunch of other businesses in Florida, and pay ginormous taxes. The New Abnormal? Please get your meds adjusted. Or at least stop making stuff up. There's already a broad public distrust of the media. Has been for years. Please don't throw gasoline on that fire.
People are leaving, though no one but you has mentioned a "big mass exodus."
Gays are moving out of the state. Fact. There are no statistics yet because it's an event in real time. I can personally name half a dozen who are leaving and more who have left. We are looking for property elsewhere at an accelerated pace. It's a thing, despite your cynicism.
And just to satisfy your curiosity, back in 2016 we blamed a guy with a gun who opened fire on innocent people. When you are next involved in such an event. please please please return to give us all your keen insights.
Disney's not leaving. PERIOD. No plans, no discussions, not even listening to the rumors.
This is the current state of Florida: [b]Don't Say LGBTQ+ Expansion Bill (HB 1069): [/b]In an intentional effort to erase transgender and non-binary people from the curriculum, HB 1069 bans instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity from Pre-K through Grade 8, creates an anti-LGBTQ+ definition of sex based on reproductive function, and would force school staff and students to deadname and misgender one another. In April, Florida’s Board of Education also voted to expand Gov. DeSantis’s shameful “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” bill from 2022 to all grades.
[b]Extreme Gender Affirming Care Ban (SB 254)[/b]: Even among the crowded field of extreme and damaging bans on best practice, age-appropriate health care, this bill stands out as particularly mean-spirited. SB 254 would penalize providers by inflicting criminal penalties (including felony penalties) on providers who give gender-affirming care; it would take licenses away from those providers; and it would prohibit Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for transgender youth or adults. It would also forbid public funds, including those of a public university, public hospital, city or county, and Medicaid, from being used to provide benefits that include gender-affirming care – for transgender people of all ages. And – uniquely – it allows the state to use gender-affirming care or the “risk” of such care for a child as a reason to give Florida family courts exceptional jurisdiction to set aside another state’s custody determination. By singing this bill, DeSantis is disrespecting the United States Constitution as well as the rule of law, not to mention transgender Floridians, their families, and their medical care providers.
[b]Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill (HB 1521):[/b] HB 1521 criminalizes transgender people for using the restroom that matches their gender identity. The bill prohibits gender-inclusive restrooms and changing facilities in schools, public shelters, healthcare facilities, and jails.
[b]MAGA Takeover of Higher Ed Bill (SB 266)[/b]: SB 266 doubles down on Gov. DeSantis’s attacks on academic freedom. The bill would allow the state Board of Governors to give direction to universities on removing majors and minors in subjects like critical race theory and gender studies and would prohibit spending on programs or activities that support such curricula.
[b]License to Discriminate in Healthcare (SB 1580): [/b]This bill will allow healthcare providers and insurers to deny a patient care on the basis of religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. It creates a license to discriminate by allowing healthcare employers to discriminate in hiring, and it bars medical Boards from disciplining doctors for spreading misinformation.
I'm quite sure this is a lame exercise in your burgeoning op-ed/satire/delusion career, but you dangerously mock the state of a place that is, at best, hostile to an entire culture of people. To be anything but offended on a visceral level is insufficient.
@SusanInFlorida This is your problem, initially. Too many words, too many thoughts, too many sources. No one knows what you're saying because you don't know what you're saying.
It's not a matter of arguing a point (although those are direct counterpoints); it's about slogging trough and making sense of the enormous cyber-acreage you command.
Agreed. Reminds me when they passed the law to make hiring illegals more difficult and the left wing press insisted that nobody was working and Florida's entire economy was on the brink of collapse.
@SusanInFlorida NPR was broken by the Trump Presidency and they have no credibility outside of their little left wing bubble. They[i] still [/i]promote fictions like Russiagate or pretend that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.
@anythingoes477 as i mentioned in my column - this is an election year. press releases are as much about collecting donations for your organization as they are about staking out a political position,.
unfortunately, neither has very much to do with the law, or crimes being committed.
Just an observation........but when it comes to political.......even if that warning to blacks is completely justified.........one side will hear it, and one side will poo poo it as fake news. So............???
